Bale loading machine



May 20, 1952 E. H. APPEL 2,597,219

BALE LOADING MACHINE Filed Oct. 17 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET l EVERETT H. APPEL May 20, 1952 E. H. APPEL BALE LOADING MACHINE Filed Oct. 17, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 17251725.: EVERETT H. APPEL Patented May 20, 1 952- ulv 'r ni STATES BALE LOADING MACHINE Everett H. Appel, Aurora, Ill. Application October 17, 1947, Serial No. 780,437

Claims. (01. 198 9) This invention relates to improvements in a load straightening device for a loading machine, and more particularly to means for straightening a load of the character of a bale or shock so that it may properly be picked up by the loading machineas'it moves along the ground, although the invention may have other uses andpurposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

The instant application is a continuation-inpart of my copending application entitled Agricultural-Loading Machine, filed April19, 1944, Serial No. 531,693,'issued'in Patent No. 2,460,441, February 1, 1949.

In the past, many and various types of mobile agricultural loading machines, especially bale and shock loading machines, have been developed, and such machines were designed to operate upon both round and square bales, the latter term indicating a bale that is square or rectangular in crosssection. These machines were constructed to be towed or driven adjacent to a transporting vehicle in the nature of a wagon, truck, or the like, so that after the bale had been elevated to a proper height by virtue of the loading machine, it would be transferred into the transporting vehicle. Difiiculty was experienced, however, in the picking up of bales disposed at an angle to the path of travel of the loading machine and it was frequently necessary for, the operator of the power vehicle to leave his seat, get down on the ground, and manually straighten a bale before the loading machine could pick it up. This, of course, was very aggravative and resulted in expensive and unwelcome delay in the harvesting of a crop. Insofar as I am aware, there has never been a loading machine produced that would by itself straighten and pick up a square bale with the long axis of that bale disposed in the neighborhood of 90 to the path of travel of the loading machine.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide an agricultural loading machine equipped With straightening means designed to pick up any form of bale or shock disposed at any angle to the path of the loading machine without the aid of an operator.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a loading machine equipped with load straightening means projecting ahead of the loading machine in proper position to straighten and guide into the machine a bale disposed at substantially any angle to the path of travel of the machine.

A further feature of the invention resides in the provision of a loading machine equipped with load straightening means that will automatically straighten a bale disposed in a horizontalposition at substantially any angle to the path of travel of the machine, or a bale standing on end. Still another object of the invention is the provision of. an agricultural loading machine 3 equipped with load straightening means and a floating loading troughor conveyor for' elevating the load, the straightening means projecting fixedly out in front of the lower end of'the floating loading trough. Y It is also an object of this invention to provide a loading machine for bales and the like equipped with means to insure the proper positioning ofa bale upon the elevating co-nveyorrwhich means automatically'prevent'the bale descending the conveyor in the reverse direction due to rough ground or other difficulties in travel. p 'f It is also a feature of this invention to. 'provide' a loading machine with automatic means'to in-' sure the positive gripping of a bale or other load bythe elevating conveyor means.

While some of the more salient acteristics and advantages of theinstantinvention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from. the following disclosures; V

taken 7 in conjunction with the. accompanying drawings, in which a I I I Figure 1 is a view in projection of a loading machine'embodying principles of the -instantinven-. 7

tion; c.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken'longitudinally of the structure of Fig. 1 in the upper forward portion thereof;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side 'elevational view of the forward end of the device illustrating a slight change in construction to accommodate a roundbaleorload; V

Figure '4 is an enlarged fragmentaryitop plan view ofthe front part of the structureof Fig. 1 illustrating diagrammatically the association of the device with agload that' disposed out of lingand Figure 5 is a fragmentary detail side, elevational view inside the frame of the device taken from the left hand side of Fig. 4. j

As shown on the drawings:

The illustrated embodiment of the instant invention comprises a mobile loading machine including a frame that may be of substantially any suitable construction, but is preferably formed more than ample rigidity, stability, anddu-' features, char- 1 rability. In the illustrated instance the frame comprises a pair of opposed tubular metal side rails l and 2 connected at the rear end by means of a fixed axle 3. Extending upwardly from the frame portion is a pair of fixed spaced uprights 4, there being one upon each side of the structure, and any form of triangular and diagonal brace means may be used between these uprights. The two uprights carry an elevated transverse shaft 5 which is substantially directly above the fixed axle 3. Rotatable upon the journal ends of the axle is a pair of traction wheels 6--6 upon which the entire machine rides from place to place.

The detailed construction of the. body portion 1 of the loading machine is more specifically described in my aforesaid copending application,

and herein it will therefore be necessary to only bring out the general features of this construc-. tion. It might also be noted at this time, that all metal frame portins,except where an adjustment or pivotal movement is desired. are

preferably welded to-eachother to make a rigid a bottom comprising spaced fiat metallic strips or other load upon the conveyor, the sides 9-9 of the loading trough terminate in a pair of guide plates 2323 each of which terminates in a flaring wing 24 at the forward end thereof. Between these guide plates a smooth bottom plate 25 is disposed beneath the convey-or. With this arrangement, a bale or other load may smoothly enter upon the conveyor in position to be carried up the trough. These guide plates are supported firmly in position by means of a pairof opposed l0 asseen best in Fig.4. At'the top of this loading trough-is a discharge platform ll overwhich is a resiliently urged swingableguiding gate 12' to turn a bale or other load sidewise for'dischargeinto the transporting vehicle; The struc: ture' of the discharge "platform and guiding gate are more'fully-disclosed, describedyand claimed in my copending application entitled Discharge Arrangementfor Agricultural Loading Machine;

filed June 1'7; 1947; Serial NO; 755,089;

with one or more projecting pins or grabbers l5. Suitable sprocket wheels are provided at the upper and lower ends of the conveyor on shafts j l6 and II, respectively, the latter shaft being visible in Figs. 4 and 5. The conveyor is driven by means of a suitable chain and sprocket con-' necti-onla (Fig. 1) from one of the wheels 6.

Carried on the lower and forward endof the loading trough is a rotatable pick-up element comprising a shaft 19 provided with a pair of opposed undulating vanes 20, this pick-up ele-l ment being driven from the conveyor as seen more clearly in Fig. by a pair of sprocket wheels on the ends of shafts l1 and l9'and a chain 2|.

During operation, the lower end of the loading trough floats above pick-up position so that the loading machine may travel over rough ground or from field to field, without danger of the pickup member snagging the ground in depressions and other variations in ground surface.- When a bale or other load is met by the machine the pick-up member engages that load, travels down the load to pick-up position, and then elevates the load upon the conveyor where it is engaged by the projections and carried upthe trough.

Immediately upon theload passing up the trough.

the fcrward 'end' of the trough'a'gain assumes elevated position. This is accomplished by wa of a pair of opposed compression springs'122 1) on apposite; sides "of themachinef P ieli i siliide. t e. se ene. F ipsf:

upright frame members 2G, each of which has a forwardly extending bracket 21 on its upper end.

With the instant invention means are preferably provided to insure an adequate grip upon the bale by means of the projections on the conveyor flights. andto prevent a bale being jarred or otherwise bounced down the conveyor due to rough terrain 'or' for any other reason. In the illustrated instance, these means find embodiment'in' the form of a pivoted bumper frame comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending strips 28 the forward endsof which'arecurved, upwardly and connected transversely with the.

forward bumperbar 29 as best seen in Figs. 2

and 4. The rear ends of these strip-s are 0011-. I

nected to anupright rear bumper bar 30 The entire bumper frame is carried on a transversej pivot shaft 3| journaled in the aforesaid brackets 21-21, and the forward end of the bumper frame is urged upwardly by means'of a pair of'flopposed tension springs 32. The upward movem'ent or,

frame forwardly of the pivot shaftj3l.

I This bumper frame arrangement. performs, three different functions in the elevatingof a, load. If a bale or other load is standing vertically" on end upon the ground when thefmachine arrives to pick it up, the forward bumper bar 29 pushes the bale over. upon its side intov pick up position. Then, as the pick-up member :9 2e elevates the adjacent end of the bale onto the conveyor, the bale must: pass beneath'the" bumper frame which presses down ontop ,of itby. virtue of the action of the springs'32 ,to insure a positive engagement 'of the bale by the flights After the bale has, passed up) the conveyor beneath the bumper frame, therearff portion of the frame drops behind the upwardly.

on the conveyor.

moving bale, and the rearbumperjbar. 30 effec tively prevents "any" unexpected or, unintended downward movement of that 'balej',

It frequently happens, however,'. that a bale may be disposed either vertically'or upon itsv side but at an angle to the path of travel of the 1 loading machine; 'So that, if'not-hing'else were done this bale' could not be pioked'up'b y the 1 loading machine because. of its angular .posi tion. The instant invention comprises means for.

straightening such an angularly disposed bale; On one side of the machine these. means'include a member 315 forming an extension of'the frame' regardless of the angle at which it reposes.

member 2, and beneath? this 'meniberand secured,

rod

ing arrangement in its operative position. As

seen best in Fig. 4, this straightening.arranger'f ment projects forwardly beyond anyother' pol"; e of .ih i efhll ffq fieisqei eiie ra advantageous. angular position relatively to the path of travel of the loading machine. As indicated at 39, the forward portion of the straightening arrangement is curved outwardly so as to better turn a bale inwardly toward the conveyor.

On the opposite side of the machine a drag link 40 carrying a draw bar connection 4! at its front end is pivotally connected at its rear end as indicated at 42 to the side frame member I of the machine. A suitable pin and hole adjusting assembly, generally indicated by numeral 43, is provided so as to selectively vary the angle of the drag link 40 relatively to the frame member I. Depending below the drag link 4i] is a generally longitudinally extending bumper 44 having an outwardly flared forward end. Due to the angular disposition of the drag link, any bale on the inner side of the machine that may be out of line will be lined up by virtue of its sliding contact with the bumper 44.

With the foregoing description in mind, it will be noted that the instant invention effectively and properly positions a bale for pick-up purposes, regardless of the position of that bale on the ground initially. For example, if the bale should be directly in alignment, or substantially so, with the conveyor, but standing on one end, the bumper bar 29 will knock the bale down upon its side in position to be picked up. If the bale or other load is disposed angularly to the path of travel of the machine, but on the inside, that is near the power vehicle or transporting vehicle, the bumper bar 44 will straighten the bale. On the other hand, if a bale is disposed substantially at right angles to the path of travel on the machine and generally toward the outside of that path, the bale will be effectively turned so that its longitudinal axis substantially coincides with the path of travel of the machine by means of the bumper arrangement including the bumper bar 36. This is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 4 where a load is indicated at 45 in the form of a square bale, initially disposed on the ground at substantially right angles to the path of travel of the machine. It will be seen that the bumper bar 36 strikes the outer portion of this bale, and as the machine moves forward that bumper bar turns the bale inwardly to proper pick-up position. Preferably, the distance between the bumper 44 and the members 34 and 35 is greater than the expected length of a bale or similar load. It will thus be seen that the cooperation of the various bumper members will effectively position a bale in proper pick-up position at any and all times, without the need of manual help on the part of an operator, and without any stopping of motion of the machine.

In the event loads in the nature of round bales are to be picked up, a curvate bumper element 46 may be attached to the vertical bumper bar 36, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, although such an element is not essential, since the vertical bumper bar 36 will straighten a round bale as well as a square bale.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that the straightening means cooperating with the bumper frame pivotally mounted over the pickup member insure the proper positioning and elevation of a bale, or other load, regardless of the position of that load relative to the machine. Consequently, the machine may be towed by a power vehicle alongside of a transport vehicle or in any equivalent arrangement, and bales continuously picked up at a rapid rate without any 6' manual assistance from an operator, and without any need for ever stopping the machine. A

It will, of course, be understood that variousdetails of construction may be varied through a Wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than .necessitated bythescope of the appended claims. V

.I claim as myinvention:

1. In an agricultural-loading machine, amo bile frame, an inclinedloading trough carried by said frame, means to elevate a load along said trough, a drag link extending forwardly of said trough and pivoted to one side of said frame, a load bumper carried by said drag link, means projecting from the side of said frame opposite said drag link, said means extending beyond the forward end of said drag link, and a bumper carried at the forward end of said means.

2. In an agricultural loading machine, a mobile frame, an inclined loading trough carried by said frame, means to elevate a load along said trough, a drag link extending forwardly of said trough and pivoted to one side of said frame, a load bumper carried by said drag link, a load straightening assembly projecting forwardly of said drag link on the opposite side of the frame, and a ground skid supporting said assembly at its forward end.

3. In an agricultural loading machine, a mobile frame, an inclined loading trough carried by said frame, means to elevate a load along said trough, a drag link pivotally connected to said frame at one side thereof, a horizontally extending load bumper on said drag link, supporting means extending forwardly of the opposite side of said frame, and a vertically disposed load bumper on said supporting means.

4. Load straightening means for a bale loader having a rigid mobile frame, an inclined loading trough pivotally carried by the frame, and means to elevate a bale along said trough, said straightening means including a bumper connected to each side of said frame extending forward thereof and of said trough, one of said bumpers extending forwardly well beyond the other, and one of said bumpers having a vertical axis and the other a horizontal axis, said trough being pivotal relatively to said frame and said bumpers.

5. In an agricultural loading machine, a rigid mobile frame, an inclined loading trough carried by said frame and pivotal relatively to said frame, means to elevate a load along said trough, a drag link extending forwardly of said trough and pivoted to one side of said frame, a load bumper carried by said drag link, and a load straightening assembly rigidly connected to the opposite side of said frame from the drag link and projecting forwardly beyond said drag link.

6. In an agricultural loading machine, a rigid mobile frame, an inclined loading trough carried by said frame, means to elevate a load along said trough, and load positioning means carried directly by said frame including a bumper forward of said trough and on each side thereof and one of which is rigid, one of said bumpers extending forwardly well beyond the other and the space between said bumpers being greater than the expected length of a load, said trough being pivotal relatively to said frame and said bumpers.

EVERETT H. APPEL.

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